Back problems<\/p>\n
Over the seven seasons before the Marlins signed Garcia in November 2021, he averaged 115.7 games played, 16.1 home runs and a .269 batting average for the Chicago White Sox, Milwaukee and Tampa Bay. His career highs in batting average (.330), on-base percentage (.380) and slugging percentage (.506) put him in the 2017 MLB All-Star Game. The Marlins signed him off a career best 29 home runs in 2021 for Milwaukee.<\/p>\n
But, at 31, Garcia\u2019s first season with the Marlins included a hamstring injury that held him to only 98 games and a .224 batting average in 2022.<\/p>\n
READ MORE: Avisail Garcia hears you booing, Marlins fans. Here\u2019s what he has to say about that<\/a><\/p>\n The Marlins 2023 season was 16 games old when, the lawsuit said, left lumbar pain and lower back and left glute tightness sent Garcia to Marlins team physician Baraga on April 16.<\/p>\n \u201cDr. Baraga performed a physical exam and attributed Avi\u2019s symptoms to lumbar paraspinal muscle tightness,\u201d the lawsuit said. \u201cDr. Baraga\u2019s plan was to initiate anti-inflammatories, as needed, and continue \u201ctreatments.\u201d\u201d<\/p>\n Baraga eventually recommended an MRI of Garcia\u2019s spine. The lawsuit claims radiologist Lubomirsky \u201cfailed to appreciate or report\u201d stress fractures on both sides of Garcia\u2019s vertabrae.<\/p>\n The lawsuit says radiologist Natalya Nagornaya looked over a second MRI of the lumbar spine at UM Miller School of Medicine on June 4. Nagornaya saw stress fractures on the L5 vertabrae and a disc herniation that compressed the left L3 nerve root. She also, the lawsuit said, recommended a CAT scan of the lumbar spine to \u201cbetter evaluate\u201d the fractures.<\/p>\n But, the lawsuit said, that scan never got ordered.<\/p>\n \u201cHad the defendant, by and through its multiple physicians, acted appropriately based on the findings on the MRI of June 4, 2023, which unambiguously and clearly reported \u201cbilateral L5 pars interarticularis defect,\u201d Avi would have had a targeted plan of treatment for his specific condition Instead, for over one full year, his treatment consisted of injections and therapy that was dramatically deleterious, including weightlifting and high-intensity baseball. All Avi needed was rest and possibly a back brace.\u201d<\/p>\n The response by the UM doctors lawyers\u2019 said, Garcia \u201cwas fully informed of the risks of the treatment provided to him and, with appreciation of those risks, voluntarily participated in conduct that exposed him to the damages now complained of…\u201d<\/p>\n